Monday, November 2, 2009

Hungry Little Traveler

"If a hungry little traveler shows up at your house, you might want to give him a cookie. If you give him a cookie, he's going to ask for a glass of milk. He'll want to look in a mirror to make sure he doesn't have a milk mustache, and then he'll ask for a pair of scissors to give himself a trim...The consequences of giving a cookie to this energetic mouse run the young host ragged, but young readers will come away smiling at the antics that tumble like dominoes through the pages of this delightful picture book." - from the jacket cover of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff.

The moose and the muffin, the cat and the cupcake, the pig and the pancake... Whatever the combination of demanding animal and willing human host, Laura Numeroff certainly has the formula for fun! Her words just roll right off the tongue as Felicia Bond's illustrations bring the characters to life. It doesn't take long for little ones to memorize and anticipate the sequence of her stories.

So when I discovered that First Stage Children's Theater will be performing If You Give a Mouse a Cookie from November 7 through the 22, I knew it was time for a LAURA NUMEROFF MONTH!

We'll READ:

If You Give a Mouse a CookieIf You Give a Moose a MuffinIf You Give a Cat a CupcakeIf You Give a Pig a Pancake

We'll SING:

Since the characters tend to make messes, we'll sing some songs about cleaning up...

"This is the way we sweep the floor, sweep the floor, sweep the floor. This is the way we sweep the floor, all through the house..."

"Clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere..."

We'll FINGERPLAY:

This one ends with some tickling!Round and round the garden goes the little MOUSE.One step...two steps...into his little HOUSE.

Quiet MouseOnce there lived a quiet mouse.In a quiet little house.When all was quiet as can be...Out popped HE!